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Chains of Leadership
Chapter I The sky was a pale blue, with the moon still visible in the sky. The ground still wet with morning dew that the sun would have to dry away. The crickets chirping were beginning to die down, only to be replaced with sweet morning birdsong. In the marsh however, you could still hear the frogs calling out and ringing in your ears. Aside from their annoying songs, all was peaceful in Shadowclan. It was until there was a loud screech, that is. Quailcry jolted, the screaming ringing in his ears. It took a moment, weariness making him confused. Before his fur prickled in panic. The cries were just outside the den. Half awake, the tom sloppily scrambled up, claws unseathed. This completely ruined the moss nest under him. But a warm place to sleep was the least of his worries. Quailcry charged out of the den, expecting to see invaing thunderclanners, or a pack of foxes. But there was nothing. Confused, the warrior looked around slowly. The cats awake were oddly stiff. As though tense, and waiting. Then, the cry sounded again. This time from the medicine cats den, frantic and confused, Quaileye looked around for the closest warrior. Moonwhisper! '' "Hey, Moonwhisper?" The black and white cat bounded over to her. "What's going on in there?" Moonwhisper cringed, waiting for another cry to pass, before opening her jaws to answer. "Birchstar's kits are coming. It's a little harder than the poor medicine cats would like. But Lostsight said she would be fine." Quailcry suddenly felt stupid. Of ''course ''it was Birchstar's kits. What else? It wasn't like she had been carrying them for the past three moons. ''It's not like Applefang won't shut up about them or anything. Speaking of which. . . Quailcry almost knowingly brought his brown gaze to entrance of the medicine cat den. Sure enough, Applefang was there, pacing around and trying to peak inside. "W-well," He sat down, beginning to groom his embarrassingly messy fur. "More kits will mean more mouths to feed. Let's try and catch something before Birchstar's screaming chases it all away." He paused. "If you would like to join me, that is." Moonwhisper had been his friend for a long time. Since late apprenticeship, anyway. They weren't as close as one would think, with him being more quiet and reserved, and her being bit of a vocal frog. "Sure-" She flinched again at a cut off wail. "I'd be more than happy to get away from. . .'' The miracle of life''. . . Right now." The she-cat pushed past him. Speed-walking to the exit tunnel of camp. Quailcry glanced back at the Medicine Cat's Den again, before taking no time to follow her. The cries beginning to get fainter and fainter the farther from camp they went. All until the two warriors were deep in the pines. "So," Moonwhisper lowered her voice, looking around. "How many kits do you think there'll be?" Quailcry shrugged, opening his jaws to let the air pass the scent glands in his mouth. Hopefully there'd be just enough, Shadowclan always needed warriors. The stronger the clan, the better. The more warriors we need, the harder it'll be for our territory to support all of us.''He remembered. Anxiety prickled at his pelt, would Shadowclan be able to hold a flood of future warriors? Quailcry pushed the thought away. It wasn't his job to worry about future territories or future warriors. That was the concern of Birchstar and Coldstrike. "There!" The warrior was brought out of his train of though by Moonwhisper pushing past him. Eyes wide and round, focused on a frog near the water. Quailcry fell silent and still, not wanting to disturb her or the undergrowth surrounding them. Moonwhisper crept forward, stopping every now and then. He could see how stiff she got every time the frog made any movement. The poor she-cat's specialty wasn't hunting, or, she wasn't as confident in hunting, anyway. But put her in a battle and she could be as deadly as a fox. His friend lunged forward, paws outstretched to her target. The frog let out a loud, wavering shriek. Before Moonwhisper cut it off. The warrior trotted pack, the small, slimy creature in jaws. Head up, and proud. Quailcry stifled a purr, he wasn't going to dare interrupt Moonwhispers joy by pointing out that it was just a small frog. ''Frogs were always Pigeonpaw's favourite Pigeonpaw was Quailcry's sister, he always found himself thinking about her out here in the territory. All the training sessions and hunts together. Every small twist and turn in the trees reminded him of his littermate. Sadness formed into a weight in his belly, the featherbrain just never watched where she was going. I should have went hunting with her to save her from The Thunderpath. Quailcry shook his head. No point in mourning now, what's done is done. I'm a warrior now; and Pigeonpaw would be proud of me anyway. I shouldn't linger on these, I'm not twelve moons anymore. The warrior lifted his head, opening his mouth to try and catch something on his scent glands again. The smell of squirrel passed over his tongue. "Squirrel." He called back to Moonwhisper, the she-cat suddenly stood very still. She did not want to scare the rare treat off. The tom scanned the pines around them. Before spotting the creature at the pond, getting a drink. Quaileye dropped low, scanning the route in front of him. Delicately placing one paw in front of the other, ever so slowly creeping forward. The squirrel suddenly perked up, Quaileye froze. Had it smelled him? He didn't step on anything. The squirrel ran for it, eyes wide, Quailcry lunged forward. The tom took chase, watching the squirrel shoot up one of the pine trees. The warrior unsheathed his claws, throwing himself at the bark and gripping on. The rush ended moments later, for the prey had already made it to the branches above. Vanishing into the foliage. "Quailcry? Did you get it?" Moonwhisper called from below him, the frog she caught now at her paws. The tom longingly glanced back up into the branches of the pine tree. "No. . ." He sighed, jumping back down. "Something scared it, and it went into the tree." He swung his head back over to the pond. But what had scared the prey so badly? It surely wasn't him. The tom padded back along the bank of the small body of water, Looking around at any undergrowth that may have shifted to scare the prey. Quailcry felt on edge, did that bush just move? ''He caught the branches jerking in the corner of his eye. Their lush green leaves moved from no stray breeze. Suspicion slithered down his spine, making his long fur bush up. "Is someone there? Come out!" Nothing. Fury made his lips curl into a snarl, whoever it was, this cat was being disrespectful. It was most likely an apprentice not wanting to get caught outside. "I said ''come out!" Quailcry lunged forward, slapping branches away to the hollow area of the bush. There was nothing there, but there was a strong, earthy smell that overtook the scent of marsh and pine. There was no sign of fur that would have gotten snagged on branches. ''Was it really me then? ''His head turned back to the water. ''It couldn't have been, right? ''With a defeated sigh, Quailcry removed his paw holding the branches away. Letting them fall back to their original spot, the leaves shivered from the force. "Moonwhisper!" He called, padding back over to the warrior. "Did I alert the prey? You can tell me if I did." Moonwhisper hesitated, jaws open in her pause. "I. . . I don't know." She spoke slowly. "But . . . If . . . If there was no cat there, it might had been something I didn't catch." Then, the cat sped up. "But uh- you really- Don't have to be so serious about it! It's just a squirrel, there's more prey in the forest." Quailcry huffed. That wasn't very encouraging. "Not if ''I ''chased it all away, Moonwhisper." Annoyance prickled under his pelt. "The squirrel with me yelling at a cat that didn't exist probably chased it all off." Saying it out loud, Quailcry felt embarrassment weigh down on his shoulders. He'd have looked crazy to any other cat without context. The tom shook, his pelt fluffing out. "Let's just head back." Without another word, Quailcry ran off. Ignoring anything Moonwhisper could have said to him.